


An Unearthly Friend

by ilwin



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Alternate Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:53:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23547190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilwin/pseuds/ilwin
Summary: AU, where Ian is "fobwatched" Time Lord and the Doctor and Susan came to Earth to find him.





	An Unearthly Friend

**Author's Note:**

> The story came out of the conversation on tumblr.  
> Thanks a lot to Lissy Strata for beta-read.

The room resembled a spacious hallway, bright and simple looking, but there was a strange humming noise constantly throughout and a console of some sort in the middle, that revealed that it was not quite what it seemed to be.  
By the console stood a white-haired, old looking man, clutching his lapels in rather an authoritative pose.  
“And you think it is him, do you, hm?“ He asked with an interest.  
“Yes, grandfather,“ dark-haired girl nodded. “It surely is Mr. Chesterton, but…“  
“Good! Bring him here, child, bring him here,“ said the old man avidly. “It will make the talking easier, hm?“  
“I think they’ve followed me here,“ said the girl with somewhat unhappy expression, that the old man didn’t seem to notice at the moment.  
“Good! Good!“ he uttered contentedly. “If he is the Alchemist, we could finally deal with the thing and leave this dreadful planet, yes! Good!“  
The girl looked troubled. “Yes, but…“  
“Go outside and wait there, hm? Go, child, go,“ the old man hurried her, obviously not listening to her properly in the joy of possibly leaving soon.  
The girl sighed and left without any other word.  
  
“See? It’s nothing here. Just an old junkyard,“ said Barbara, gesturing at their surroundings.  
“Maybe the secretary muddled it up after all,“ replied Ian thoughtfully, when suddenly a girl’s voice sounded behind them.  
“You shouldn’t come here.“  
They turned around surprised.  
“Susan! What are you doing here? You’re not really living in a junkyard, are you?“ exclaimed Barbara in shock.  
Susan didn’t answer, now turning directly to Ian. “Grandfather wants to talk to you, Mr. Chesterton,“ she said with a serious face.  
“To me?“ Ian looked at her surprised and unwittingly glanced at Barbara as if he was asking her for advice.  
Susan pointed to a nearby corner where a blue police box stood. “Through that door. Grandfather is waiting for you.“  
“In the police box?“ asked Ian doubtfully.  
“Just go inside, Mr. Chesterton, the door is open,“ said Susan. “Grandfather will tell you everything.“  
“Ian,“ Barbara held his arm warningly, but Ian gently released himself and smiled at her triumphantly.  
“The mysterious Doctor Foreman seems to be willing to talk to us finally. Fine, there are lots of questions that shall be answered,“ he said determinedly, not realizing that he had been the only one invited in. The next moment he walked through the indicated door so eagerly, that he didn’t notice that Susan had held Barbara’s arm to stop her from going there too.  
The door of the police box closed and Barbara and Susan stayed standing outside.  
“Susan? What are you doing? Why did you stop me?“ Barbara turned to her student angrily.  
“I told you not to follow me, I told you!“ Susan blurted out unhappily and Barbara’s anger faded away at once.  
“What's going on, Susan?“ Barbara asked again, more calmly now. “First you refuse to say anything and you tell me your grandfather won't talk to anyone, now suddenly he wants to talk to Ian?“  
“I wish you didn’t ask me anything. And I wish you hadn’t come. None of you. I told you not to follow me; to let us be. I knew Mr.Chesterton would come with you this time. And now grandfather will speak to him and everything will change.“  
“What are you talking about, Susan?“ asked Barbara baffled.  
“Well, about Mr. Chesterton of course! We had searched for him,“ Susan replied seriously. “That’s why I came to your school; the tracks led there. I had to find him and bring him to the grandfather. But now I’m not sure if it was right. That’s why I told you to leave us and not to follow me. Oh, Miss Wright you should have let it be. Grandfather will be insistent that he should return.“  
Barbara tried to find some sense in what Susan was saying but with no success. “Hold on, Susan. I don’t understand what you're talking about. Why did you search for Ian? Who should return? And where to?“  
“Return home. He has lots of work to do there; the council said so. And we were sent here to find him. So I went to your school and grandfather will talk to him now.“  
Barbara thought that it kept making less sense all the time instead of the other way round. “Are you talking about Ian?“ she asked slowly.  
“But of course!“ Susan looked at Barbara as if the teacher wasn’t able to understand the simplest thing in the world.  
“But his home is here,“ Barbara objected uncomprehendingly.  
Susan gave her a sad look. “I’m sorry, Miss Wright. But Mr. Chesterton isn’t what you think he is. He is not from this planet.“  
Barbara stared at Susan in silent disbelief for a while. “That’s nonsense,“ she said when she finally spoke again.  
“It's true,“ Susan shook her head. „He is not from Earth. Neither are we – grandfather and me. And Mr. Chesterton is from the same planet.“  
“No,“ Barbara denied resolutely. “He’s just a science teacher. And you…“  
“It just seems so,“ refused Susan. “We are not from Earth and neither is Mr. Chesterton. He is over 100 human years old if I remember well what grandfather said,“ she added.  
“Now that’s ridiculous, Susan!“ Barbara shouted out doubtfully. “How could anyone be that old and look so young? Stop talking nonsense. Ian is just few years older than me. Quite ordinary school teacher…“  
“For now,“ said Susan with another shook of her head. “A few years ago, a bandit race was threatening him and his work, and he needed to hide. So he found an out-of-the-way planet and hid as a human – Mr. Chesterton. Now the threat is gone, because the bandits were caught, and we were sent to find him, following the clues he had left for Time Lords, because he needs to go on with his work.“  
Barbara said nothing. It all sounded too fantastic to be true. Visitors from other planets! The idea itself was mad enough, but the thought that one of her colleagues, a friend, should be one of them? And yet Susan’s expression was so honest and true, and all seemed to be responding to Susan’s oddity and her and her grandfather’s mysteriousity and secrets...  
“That’s nonsense,“ said Barbara stubbornly after a while, refusing to admit it could be true.  
“What do you know about his family?“ asked Susan unexpectedly.  
Barbara looked at her surprised. “Well... He doesn’t have parents anymore, but has a brother and his family, but they live somewhere north,“ she answered slowly, trying to remember what else Ian had ever told her about his relatives.  
“And have you ever seen them?“ Susan went on.  
“Well, no, we’re just friends, why should I…“  
“Not even their picture?“ added Susan.  
Barbara hesitated. “Well…“  
“Because they don’t exist,“ said Susan strongly. “Not on this planet at least.“  
“That’s what you claim,“ frowned Barbara disapprovingly.  
“Did he ever speak about his childhood?“ Susan continued.  
“But of course!“ Barbara replied. “He grew up in London and has a brother and always wanted to become an inventor when he grew up and…“ She paused, recalling more details she knew about her friend’s childhood, but Susan slowly shook her head again.  
“He couldn’t tell you anything too specific, because there isn’t anything like that. Not here on this planet that he could have told you,“ she said and Barbara opened her mouth to object, but there actually wasn’t anything that she could say, because Susan's evidence seemed so reasonable... but it just couldn't be true! Could it?  
“I’m sorry, Miss Wright,“ repeated Susan sympathetically.  
“That’s impossible,“ muttered Barbara, but her face revealed that she began to realize that Susan wasn’t just making things up.  
“I found Mr. Chesterton and told grandfather, but now I’m not sure if it was right,“ Susan added uncertainly.  
Barbara looked at her uncomprehendingly, but before she could say anything, Susan suddenly turned to her and asked: “Do you love him?“  
“What?“ Barbara started in surprise.  
“I needed to find him so I had to watch very closely and I think… Do you love him?“ she repeated the question insistently.  
“We’re just friends,“ replied Barbara slowly. “Ian is a wonderful friend, a great man, he is kind and amusing and I like to be with him, but…“ She didn’t finish, made uncertain with Susan’s fixed gaze.  
“I’ve thought so,“ noted Susan shortly and sighed. “But if he goes back, he won’t be the man you know anymore.“  
“He won’t be… What do you mean?“ Barbara felt as if the world around was just losing its sense since they had come to the junkyard.  
“He will change back to himself and won’t be human anymore. And he won’t be the man you once knew either,“ explained Susan with a serious face.  
“And that would be his real self? So Ian… he’s not real? Not his true self? Is it just… a false picture?“ Barbara asked uneasily.  
“No. It is him. In a way,“ replied Susan. “The human part. Well, we can’t have a human part because we’re not human… it’s complicated.“ Susan cut herself off with a wave of her hand. “But it’s certainly different from what he would become if he went back… Oh, I wish you listened to me and didn’t come,“ she frowned and then suddenly looked at Barbara with some kind of a decision clearly visible on her face.  
“I’ll talk to grandfather. Maybe he would just let him go. Maybe we could say we didn’t find him when we return home. Come on,“ she grabbed Barbara’s hand and drew her to the police box.  
Barbara just managed to think that it was pretty weird to go meet more than one other person in a limited space of a police box, when Susan dashed in and dragged Barbara with her, so they stood inside of something, that certainly wasn’t an ordinary police box.  
Barbara halted right by the door, staring at the space inside, while Susan rushed to the old man, standing with Ian by the console. “Grandfather, we can’t do this, she loves him!“ She blurted out.  
“Susan!“ exclaimed Barbara appalled and hid her face behind her hands.  
“Barbara!“ cried out Ian in surprise at the same time.  
The old man looked annoyed. “What is this havoc, Susan? And who is the woman, hm? I told you to bring him here and not any other people of this planet!“ he said sternly.  
“It’s Miss Wright, she was one of my teachers too and they came together,“ explained Susan quickly and then made a pleading face again. “But grandfather, it’s not right. When Mr. Chesterton returns to us, he will never be like before. And he loves her too.“  
Now it was Ian’s turn to look at Susan appalled and Barbara lowered her hands and turned to him with a question in her eyes.  
“That is not our problem, my child. He needs to go back to his work, back to his home, hm? That is of vital importance,“ said the old man forcefully.  
Ian turned his eyes to Barbara and gave her a little smile, that looked somewhat apologetical and uncertain.  
“Ian,“ Barbara came closer to him. “Susan told me, you’re not… she said you are from another planet.“ It was very hard for her to say it aloud. “Is it true?“  
He gave her another crooked uncertain smile. “I… don’t know what to think, Barbara. The Doctor told me about it and… there are things that seems to explain lots of things in my life. Like – I used to have these dreams from time to time… about strange creatures and places… and the Doctor told me they weren’t just dreams… that they are my memories. And the fob watch… you know how I said it didn’t work but I kept it because it was a relic? Well, it is not apparently… the Doctor said that’s where… where my true self is hidden,“ he finished in a thoughtful tone. Then he reached in his pocket and took out the very fob watch he had just talked about, looking at it half surprised as if he wasn’t quite aware that he had had it in his pocket all the time.  
Barbara stared at him silently. It couldn't be real. A police box that is not a police box. One of the students is not from this planet. A dear friend that is not even a human… This must be some dream.  
She closed her eyes as if the things could be back as they used to be, when she would open them again later.  
“See, grandfather?“ Susan said in a desperate voice. “We have no right to tear them apart.“  
“We have no right to let Gallifrey lose a Time Lord,“ grumbled the Doctor. “But you believe me now, Chatterton, hm?“  
Ian turned to the Doctor. “I don’t know. It all seems too fantastic. But those dreams… Always so vivid… Also this place. It’s… kind of… familiar..“ he glanced around with a little bit absent-minded look.  
The Doctor watched him discontentedly, his lips pressed together in disagreement. “Is it true that you keep some feelings to this woman?“ He asked then, rather roughly.  
Barbara opened her eyes and turned to Ian and he looked back at her. “I do,“ he nodded slightly.  
“Ian,“ Barbara took a step closer, but the fob watch, that he was still holding in his hand, caught her eyes, and she stopped.  
“Grandfather, please!“ Susan spoke again in a pleading voice. “You know this planet is not very advanced, but love makes human lives much more bearable!“  
Barbara turned to her in surprise as such words sounded rather strange from a fifteen years old girl, while Ian just slowly lowered his eyes, staring at the fob watch pensively.  
The Doctor frowned disapprovingly. “Well, the trouble is that one of these two lives is not human, is it? Hm?“ he replied to Susan curtly, although he seemed a little bit more hesitant than a while ago.  
The young girl was persistent. “There certainly wasn’t just the Alchemist on Gallifrey, was it? There is surely some other Time Lord that could take over his work and go on with it instead of him. And we would say that we didn’t find him, what could they do? Please… Grandfather…“  
A moment of silence followed, when the humming noise was the only thing to be heard there, and none of them moved.  
“Our job was to find a Time Lord hidden on this planet, and so we did…“ The Doctor muttered more just to himself, breaking the silence, and then turned to the science teacher again. “Now, we don’t have the whole day to stand here, my boy, we've already lost plenty of time searching for you. So if you would decide whether you go back or stay, we could finally move somewhere,“ he snapped grumpily.  
“I can decide?“ asked Ian surprised. “But you said…“  
“I said, that your work back on Gallifrey was very important and it would be a great loss for Time Lords to be deprived of it. But no one can force you to go back against your will I’m afraid, so if you would choose to stay here to live and die as a human, we can do nothing about it, can we? Hm?“ he said, frowning heavily.  
“Grandfather!“ Susan exclaimed joyfully and squeezed the old man gratefully, for she knew that he could have had insisted Mr. Chesterton on going back. After all there would be no need for her intercessions otherwise.  
“And I must decide now?“ Ian asked looking rather perplexed, unwittingly putting the fob watch back in his pocket.  
“What deciding, hm?“ The Doctor answered back sharply. “Either you want to stay here or not, there is no need to wonder about it, is it? We have lost enough of time on this dreadful planet already,“ he growled.  
Ian took a breath to say something, but Barbara was faster.  
“Wait a minute, Ian,“ she said determinedly. “Susan said, that this… this isn’t quite you. Not really…“  
“No, I meant…“ Susan cut in quickly, but Barbara stopped her with a raised hand.  
“I would feel it that way, I’m sure,“ she shook her head slowly. “From now on, for the rest of my life.“ Her voice trembled a little bit, but she took control over it again quickly and went on.  
“Susan was right,“ she looked back at Ian with sadness in her eyes. “I love you. But it’s not the real you as it seems. And if you choose… if you choose to stay here because of me, I would feel like I was in the way. Holding you back from your real self and your real life. And that’s not right. Go back, Ian. If this is all true, go back where you are needed and forget about me,“ she finished, feeling tears starting to blur her vision.  
“You are a very wise woman, Miss Wright,“ said the Doctor with a touch of appreciation in his voice.  
Susan stared at Barbara in disbelief, clinging to her grandfather as if Barbara’s words were some kind of danger.  
“Barbara…“ Ian breathed surprised. He paused for a while and then went on shyly. “I… May I kiss you? Just once?“ he asked quietly.  
Barbara said nothing, but slowly stepped closer to him and reached for his hands. He squeezed them for a moment mildly and then took her face in his hands. “I love you, Barbara. I wish I said it earlier,“ he whispered.  
“Me too,“ replied Barbara in undertone before he leaned to her and kissed her gently.  
“Goodbye,“ he said softly as he straightened up again and they slowly stepped away from each other.  
“Goodbye, Ian,“ mouthed Barbara and wiped a stray tear away from her cheek.  
Ian slowly turned back to the Doctor and took the fob watch out of the pocket again. “And… what now?“ He asked and although he wanted to sound confident and determined, he failed and his voice trembled instead.  
“You know what to do yourself,“ said the Doctor firmly.  
Ian looked down and slowly turned the watch over and back in his hand. “I think I do…“ he said quietly and unknowingly took a deep breath before opening the watch.  
Barbara closed her eyes and Susan clung to her grandfather even more, not sure what would come next.  
Then the Time Lord essence escaped from the watch and with a foggy stream of goldish light it returned back to where it belonged easier than the human teacher had expected.  
  
When Barbara dared to open her eyes again, everything seemed to be the same. The bright room with the constant humming sound, the old man and his granddaughter, and Ian.  
But at the moment she looked at her former colleague, he just breathed in sharply and ran over his face with his hands, and it seemed to her as if he was washing the remains of human Ian away.  
He still looked the same and yet he didn’t. Something in the way he was standing, in the way he was holding his head and he was moving, revealed that there was more to him than just an ordinary science teacher.  
Then he turned to her and when Barbara looked in his eyes, she unwittingly made a step back in shock, because those weren’t eyes of her friend, but staggering depth of something strange and unimaginably vast and distant.  
“Hello, Barbara,“ he said kindly and she raised her eyebrows.  
“You know me?“  
He smiled. “Of course I do. I remember everything that happened to Ian. He’s still there somewhere.“  
Barbara watched him silently for a moment. “Well, not for me anymore,“ she replied then with a slight cheerless smile. “I believe I should go now,“ she added calmly.  
“I could take you to a trip, you know,“ offered former Ian helpfully. “To show you the universe. I know some really great places that are worth seeing…“  
She looked at him somewhat sadly, missing her dear friend already. “I belong to Earth. Not on some foreign world.“  
“I could take you in the past too,“ he went on. “You could see French Revolution for real; meet Napoleon. Or take a look at Roman Empire with your own eyes. Or would you rather visit Aztecs and witness their culture first hand?“  
Barbara hesitated. History was her field and she would love to see some of it for real. She talked about it many times to Ian and so the Time Lord knew it too.  
“You can travel in the past as well?“ she asked and he smiled widely, showing the very same dimples that she knew so well from Ian’s smile.  
“Of course! Past, future, anywhere and any time in the universe that you’d like to see,“ he proclaimed cheerfully. “I think I owe it to you for the time I’ve been hidden here as a human,“ he added after in more uncertain and little bit apologetic tone.  
“No. You owe me nothing,“ said Barbara calmly with a slight shook of her head and then turned to the door. “I'd better go now.“  
“Wait…“ he started but the Doctor stepped in.  
“You did not come back to offer fancy rides in your ship to young ladies, did you, young boy?“ he said reprovingly. Barbara however noticed that he had left her time for decision. “Where is your ship anyway, hm?“ The Doctor raised eyebrows on the other Time Lord in rather intimidating expression and then looked back and tapped Susan gently on her hand. “See miss Wright out of the ship, will you, my child? We’ll take our young friend to his ship after.“  
Susan hurried up to Barbara and linking arms with her, she was leading her former teacher out.  
By the door Barbara stopped and looked back once more. They were both looking after her, but it was impossible for her to read anything in the strange foreign eyes.  
“I believe I don’t need to emphasize that you should not tell anyone about none of this, do I? Hm?“ asked the Doctor sternly.  
“Who would believe me?“ shrugged Barbara and then nodded shortly goodbye and finally let Susan lead her out of the alien ship.  
  
It seemed to her a bit surprising that outside was still the same old uninteresting junkyard without any change.  
How can the world still look the same when there were visitors from a foreign world… That looked like quite ordinary people…  
They stopped and Susan turned to her. “Goodbye, Miss Wright,“ she said slowly. “I’m sorry it ended this way.“  
“No,“ refused Barbara with a slight smile. “This is right. It wouldn’t be fair to hold him back from his own life and work because of some… dream. A nice dream, but still just a dream. But thank you for your help.“  
Susan smiled warmly and stuck out her hand. “It was nice knowing you, Miss Wright.“  
“It was nice to know you too, Susan,“ replied Barbara and they shook hands. “Although you certainly were a tough one, to say the least,“ she added with a smile.  
“I’m not used to other planets that much yet,“ Susan shrugged and then smiled again, and with a wave of her hand and a last goodbye, she slipped back into the ship.  
Barbara watched the blue box thoughtfully, wondering if it would just fly away, when it suddenly started to make a strange pulsating sound and the light on the top flashed.  
She instinctively took a few steps back and watched in amazement as the blue box slowly faded into nothing. And then everything went silent and calm again.  
This is it then, she thought in a mild surprise. As if nothing ever happened…  
Only there will be one empty place in my life forever.  
She sighed and turned away, setting off for home slowly.  
Goodbye, Ian. Goodbye, my friend.


End file.
